Liar

Inside the mirror realm, the rescue party cannot pin down where Luffy and Sanji are, leading Nami to reason they must have left the castle entirely. Chopper is baffled to learn the two had come to blows, but Jinbe understands that Sanji had obligations tied to the Vinsmoke Family and would not be easy to bring back. He urges the group to move fast, warning that the upcoming wedding is far more than a simple ceremony, and asks after Pekoms. Jinbe confirms that a scheme had been set to take the lion mink's life, and only his intervention prevented it. Out in Sweet City, two townsfolk wonder whether they heard a gunshot through the rain, while a wounded Bobbin curses three shadowed figures and drops.

Up in the sixth-floor guest room, the barmaids collapse from drink as the Vinsmoke men keep guzzling. Yonji and Niji wish Nami were serving them, and Ichiji muses about bargaining for her after hearing of her capture. Judge calls for restraint, saving the real revelry for the following night, and gloats that even their reject, Sanji, has finally proven useful by securing the alliance. The men toast their "dud," unaware that the smiling homies in the room already know what Big Mom intends. Outside, chess soldiers seal off the guest room and the infirmary holding Reiju, who stays awake while Judge and Big Mom sleep.

On the city's edge, Luffy stirs at the scent of the basket Sanji carries. Sanji sets the rain-spoiled bento at his feet, but Luffy digs in anyway, sobbing that it tastes wonderful and noting every crew favorite tucked inside, which makes Sanji call him a liar. Once the meal restores his full strength, Luffy is told to leave, and Sanji recites why he cannot return: he struck and disrespected the captain who came for him, Zeff remains a hostage, and despite hating his family he cannot bring himself to let them be murdered. Luffy responds with a fist that hurls Sanji into Kingbaum's wreckage, then roars at him to be honest. Recalling all the times he fed the Straw Hats, Sanji tearfully owns that he longs to come back, and Luffy assures him they will tear the wedding apart side by side.

The cover request, in which Franky constructs a mechanical body for a crab being tormented by a monkey, draws on the old Japanese folktale about a crab and a monkey, with its menagerie of animals and living objects echoing that story. Jinbe confirms Pekoms survived and warns of a sinister plan tied to the ceremony. Bobbin is gunned down by attackers later identified with the Fire Tank Pirates, and Judge appears without his mask for the first time, though shadow conceals his face.